The jewelry retail chain controlled by Cheng, chairman of
property company New World Development Co., plans to start
trading in Hong Kong as early as in the fourth quarter, said the
people, who declined to be identified because the information is
private. The initial public offering may raise at least $3
billion, the people said.

Chow Tai Fook joins consumer-goods companies including
Prada SpA and Samsonite LLC in seeking to raise funds in Hong
Kong, where retail sales are surging as visitors from China
spend on watches, shoes and clothes. The company has more than
1,000 stores in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia
and plans to double that number by 2020, according to Chow Tai
Fook’s website.

The jewelry chain, with 30,000 workers, has annual revenue
of more than HK$30 billion ($3.9 billion), according to the
website of the Hong Kong-based company that was founded in 1929.
Chow Tai Fook, which Cheng bought in 1956, also has investments
in hotels, property, public transportation and department stores,
its website shows.

Fanny Yu, executive assistant at Chow Tai Fook, declined to
comment.

Companies have raised $7.8 billion in IPOs in Hong Kong
this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HSBC, which
helped manage the first yuan-denominated IPO in the city last
month, is the top-ranked underwriter, followed by Goldman Sachs,
the data show. JPMorgan is in ninth place.

The tally for underwriters is poised to jump in coming
months as Prada, Samsonite, Glencore International Plc and China
Guangfa Bank Co. complete share sales in Hong Kong.

Prada Gauges Demand

New China Life Insurance Co., the Chinese insurer backed by
Zurich Financial Services AG, hired at least eight banks for the
Hong Kong portion of an initial public offering that may raise
as much as $5 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas SA, China International
Capital Corp., Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan and
UBS will manage the Hong Kong sale, said the people, who
declined to be identified because the process is private. The
Beijing-based insurer plans to start trading in the second half
after selling stock in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the people said.

Prada, the Italian producer of Miu Miu bags and Church’s
shoes, has started gauging investor demand for an IPO, according
to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News. The sale may raise
about $2 billion, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

Milan Station Holdings Ltd., a retailer of used handbags
and apparel, surged 66 percent to close at HK$2.77 yesterday,
its first day of trading in Hong Kong.

Sales of luxury goods such as bags, watches and jewelry in
China may more than double to about 180 billion yuan in 2015
from 80 billion last year, McKinsey & Co. said in a report in
March. The 2015 estimate will be equal to 20 percent of global
luxury spending, the consulting company said.

Buyers from the Greater China region, which includes Hong
Kong, Macau and Taiwan, may account for 44 percent of global
luxury-goods sales by 2020, up from 15 percent, CLSA Asia-
Pacific Markets said earlier this year. The CLSA estimate
includes spending by Chinese abroad.

In Hong Kong, retail sales rose an average of 21 percent in
the first three months of the year, compared with 19 percent in
2010. Tourists in the former British colony spent a record
HK$210 billion last year, 33 percent more than in 2009. Visitors
from mainland China spent the most per capita, according to a
statement from the city’s tourism board last month.

Still, the 23 companies that sold shares in IPOs in Hong
Kong this year are trading less than 0.5 percent higher on
average from their offer price, underperforming an 8.1 percent
gain for U.S. IPO stocks, data compiled by Bloomberg show.